Employee Support From Within: Antronette Simmons, HRBP at Seattle City Light

This episode features Antronette Simmons, an HR Business Partner at Seattle City Light. Antronette shares her career journey and discusses the impactful work she is doing to support employees.

During the episode, Antronette talks about how her passion for helping people led her to a career in human resources. She shares her experience working in research administration at the University of Washington and how she transitioned to her current role, where she is focused on the well-being of Seattle City Light's workforce.

Antronette explains how she created the innovative Peer Support Program, which proactively addresses employee distress by empowering coworkers to support one another. She emphasizes the importance of being trauma-informed and how they are training HR professionals and leadership to have compassionate conversations.

Antronette also details her efforts to promote psychological safety within teams by defining the concept and providing employees with a safe space to raise concerns. The hosts engage in a thoughtful discussion around building empathy and reducing stigma in the workplace.

Overall, listeners will be inspired by Antronette's compassionate leadership and strategic initiatives to foster wellness and community among employees.

To stay connected and continue the conversation, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

And don't forget to check out our previous episodes for more tips and strategies to boost your workplace happiness. You can find them on your favorite podcast platform or on our website.

If you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions for future episodes, please reach out to us. We'd love to hear from you!

Stay inspired, stay motivated, and stay happy at work!

Transcript

Laura Hamill: 0:06

Welcome back for another episode of the happy at work podcast, with Laura, Tessa and Michael.

Tessa Misiaszek: 0:14

Each week we have thoughtful conversations with leaders, founders and authors about happiness at work. Tune

Michael McCarthy: 0:22

in each Thursday for a new conversation. Enjoy the show

Laura Hamill: 0:38

Welcome to the happy at work podcast. We are so excited to have Antoinette Simmons here with us today. Welcome internet.

Antronette Simmons: 0:47

Well, thank you so much, Laura, appreciate the invitation. And thank you for having me. Absolutely.

Laura Hamill: 0:53

Absolutely. Well, we'd love to start with is just learning a little bit more about you and your career. So could you give us a little bit of a summary of your career journey and what you do now?

Unknown: 1:05

I can, you know, I've always had this passion for helping people. So I spent at least a decade or so working at the University of Washington, because there's so much great innovation going on right on the clinical side, the research side in their academic pursuits. And it was just wonderful to be in that environment and get to support all of their research and their grants. So that was the first half of my career as a research administrator. And I decided, you know, I would really love to just focus on the people, because they're, what's making everything run and happen. And sure enough, I ended up at a public utility, Seattle City Light, and I get to focus on our workforce. And I'm currently a HR business partner. So we're very close to our divisions, our teams, were right in there with them. And it's just been a wonderful experience there.

Michael McCarthy: 2:02

I love this, it's so great that you get to do your passion for your career, because it's like, am I working or just having fun? So I love that. Yes. And in your current role, we understand you do some really important work for your employees who are going through some really difficult challenges. And it's called the peer support program. Can you tell us about it and how it works?

Unknown: 2:28

Yes, so one of the things that we noticed after COVID, and that's this is society, why but definitely, we're seeing behaviors within our organization is there is an uptick in employees exhibiting signs of distress. And we thought, okay, in HR, the only way we find out an employee's in distress is if they are going down a path of discipline, something has happened. And now everyone needs to get involved to make sure that the behavior is corrected. But we wanted to figure out a way to address this more proactively. How can we take the information that we have and the relationships that we have, and create a way that we can support employees on the front end? Right? How can we, you know, create a system where we help each other. And so that's where the Peer to Peer Assistance and Support came in? Because often, you know, you're working in workgroup, you're on a team, you're on a crew, and you know exactly what everyone's going through, who just got married you, right, who's struggling, who's having death in the family, and all those sorts of things. And so we thought, Well, how about we sort of train coach up our workforce to be able to help each other? What if we brought in the tools and the resources needed, so that they can say, Hey, is everything okay? You don't have to tell me about it. But I just wanted to make sure that you knew that we had these benefits available to us and these resources available, and point them to where they can get that help and that assistance. This way, the goal, right is to reduce those negative outcomes and all of the the performance management issues that we're having, right from employees just needing that, that support in being able to support each other. The other component to this is, we must be trauma informed. So we have to have the language, right, and the compassion and the empathy, right and know what that looks like and what that feels like in order to be able to approach employees in a way that will de escalate and be supportive and not escalate and trigger. Right. And so in order to do that, we're going to provide training, right? We're going to create our resources. We're going to spend time and have conversations with the workforce because everyone is afraid right to approach. You know, your colleague, right. You don't want to like get in their business. You don't want to make them feel judged or like they're seen, right. But at the same time you do want to make and feel seen, right? And you do want to make them feel cared about, and you want them and let them know that, hey, it's okay. There's no judgement, there's no shame, there's no guilt. Right? We're all human human being living this experience as people, right? And so, yeah, I it's something that I'm really passionate about. And I'm excited that the organization and the leadership is behind it. So

Tessa Misiaszek: 5:25

I really resonate with what you said about the fact that oftentimes, HR doesn't get informed until there's discipline problems that there's some real issues going on until much later in the stage. And we, the research group that I'm with at the Korn Ferry Institute, we just conducted a very large study, looking at how perimenopause and menopause impacts women at work. And we saw the exact same phenomena happen that, you know, while the attrition rates and the absenteeism rates are actually astronomically high for that for women going through perimenopause or menopause at work, that the vast majority of them did not talk to their boss does, they don't even talk to their clinical provider, but 70% spoke to a work colleague about their experience. So it was really fascinating to see that they trust their work colleagues more than they even trust and get support from providers. So really curious with this program, because I kind of feel like it could be replicated for all these different kinds of phenomena that we see in the workplace. What are some of those specific outcomes that you see? And what are what what is it about this peer to peer support some of the perhaps one or two specifics that you think really helps to make it work.

Unknown: 6:44

So the crews go out, and they're in the field, and they rely on each other, right for their safety. We have family day, we have cartels, like relationships within our organization are rich, and they run deep. And so we all so that's an opportunity that we're going to take advantage of. But we also have folks that have been successful. Maybe they had some issues going on, maybe they took a step away from the workforce, and did what they needed to do to take care of that. And now they're back. And they're living a different life. Right? Maybe they're on a silver softball team, right? They're changing their friends changing their habits, right? And so it's how do we tap into those folks? Right? Those are champions, right? How do we bring those stories forward in that energy, right? And let folks know, hey, you know what, there's a whole subset of people here that are solver that are doing it that are feeling all of their feelings, and figuring out what that looks like. I think in our society, we have a drinking culture that we all see. It's in all the commercials, it's in all the movies, right? And in some employees, and they just have been drinking says teenage, right? If you started drinking 1516 years old, then every experience in your life, you've had your your drink with you. And so now you're in a stage of okay, I want to make some different choices. What does that look like for me? What does that feel like? And so empowering our workforce to help each other which like I said, take advantage all those relationships, take advantage of the folks that have been down that road and came out successfully. Bringing all that together, and we do we get the opportunity to bring in trainers, right? We do have dollars for resources. And so our part of our plan is bringing someone in to talk to us about what does it look like and feel like? Because maybe I don't know, I need someone to tell me, what does it look like when a colleague is in distress? versus just being a jerk today? And how do we separate our feelings, right? Because we have our emotions about these behaviors and how you know, we're being treated, and give that compassion and empathy to our colleagues. So bringing someone in on a regular basis, right, that can give us that information, give us that training, empower us with the language. And then as business partners, it'll be our job to support the community and support the workforce in making this happen and coach them up.

Laura Hamill: 9:23

I bet the people who are sort of the mentors, it's sort of in this write the people who've been through hard times and are trying to support their peers, but there's a lot that they get from it, too. I mean, it just, yeah, they

Unknown: 9:38

get that reinforcement. Right, and hopefully reduce shame. Yes, because they know we don't know who they are, that's confidential. And so they can pick and choose if they want to come forward or not. Wow, it's an opportunity to empower them and let them know. We see your work. We're supportive of you. And we're so supportive. We want you To support this effort up to you, voluntary, right, right, you don't have to.

Laura Hamill: 10:05

I love the focus on the D stigmatizing and reducing the shame piece. Just curious about the trauma informed part of it. So did you all in even within the people in culture function, get trained on trauma, being trauma informed? Or like learn from experts? Or how, how have you kind of tackled that? I know, that wasn't a question I was planning. But

Unknown: 10:32

no, that's fine. And that's one of the great things about my organization is we have been trained. Yes, it has been great. And I believe the training right now is geared towards HR professionals and leadership. Yeah. And so, in my mind, I'm thinking, Well, how do we roll this into the workforce? Because when you think about performance management, and those tough conversations that leaders have to have with employees, all of that, right is trauma informed conversation and language. And if we learn how to de escalate people, with our words, with our body language, right, all of those things, and also know that there's a method to it. So it's not so touchy feely, like emotion. But there's actually a method, right, there's science to your body. Like there's there's science to the words that you use, and even the way that you speak to someone, right? There's a book that I'm thinking of called nonviolent communication by Marshall Rosenberg, and it's excellent, excellent way to approach people in a trauma informed way and triggering way to have a real conversation. That's so

Laura Hamill: 11:37

good. I mean, so many of the things that we think about at work around conflict, right, like having conflict. I just feel like for so long, we never even thought about this idea of all of my history that I bring to this conversation and all the things that have happened to me that might make me deal with this conflict or this situation, in a maybe not so healthy way. Like, of course, I'm doing it that way. Right. This is, this is because of my past. And I think it's so good that we're starting to realize the impact that that has, right. And so we're a related topic, I know you're also doing some really important work around psycho psychological safety. And so I'd love for you to tell us about the work you're doing to teach that and encourage that in your work.

Unknown: 12:24

Yes, so, you know, part of our work is watching and tracking trends, things, and figuring out strategic ways to address it. And one of the things that we noticed is there are dysfunctions in within the workforce that if we empower the voices that we don't typically hear, which are the people that are coming to work doing their job, right, having a great time building relationships, we don't hear from them. Right? They're very quiet, right? They don't they're not on the HR radar. And so how do we elevate those voices to bring more stability, positive behaviors, psychological safety, right within each team. So what we've decided to do is we've been returning to work. And part of that return to work is we have reconfigured how we do HR. So every location and team has an HR business partner. So part of return to work is you get to know me in person. And I and we thought, okay, well, what's a really good way to kick that off so that everyone gets to meet us fill our energy have a conversation, is we will use our psychological safety conversations where we address would define psychological safety, right. And what that is give an example and then address maybe an issue in their teams that their management feels is irrelevant. And while we're doing that, they're getting to know all five of us business partners at the same time. And what we found is it's become a utility effort. I mean, as you know, the research states that you have to have your leadership, you have to have organizational buy in and sponsorship to do anything. And we have that. So the language is being permeated throughout the organization. Everyone's talking about psychological safety and well being and how to elevate our voices. Amy Edmondson has a beautiful one minute 42nd video that talks about the Challenger shuttle and Rodney Rocha and even senior engineer but he didn't use his voice when he noticed that there was a coil that was having a bit of an issue. And of course, five days later, there was a disaster with the Challenger explosion. And so that's one of the case studies that we discussed. Most people watch that incident on TV, they're aware of it, they know about it, but have we talked about it in a way that promotes psychological safety in our environment. If someone needs to call in all stop or say, Hold on, we need to take a look at this every one stop, do you need to be a leader to do that? Or can you be an apprentice? Can you be a probationary employee? Can you be a new employee? And then what are the implications? If you speak up and use your voice? Where I would, how are people gonna treat you now. And so we want to say, hey, you do get to use your voice. And everyone else, we're gonna treat that person with respect, and we're gonna support that effort. Right. And these are all the reasons that we need to promote that because it really does promote better health and well being in wellness throughout our teams. Right. And so it's actually been a wonderful effort. My Groups wanted to pilot first, which was excellent. And now when they see me, I have, there's so many of them, I can't memorize all their names, but they're like, hey, intranet, I remember your psychological safety training. And for me, those are wins, right? It's a win that we're breaking down the HR us against them, sort of theory, right, that HR is not, you know, there to support the workforce. But actually, the workforce is the organization. So yes, we can do both right, we can support the organization as well as the employees. So it actually has been wonderful, our language is improving, everyone's learning exactly what it is some people is the first time they ever heard that language, psychological safety. And so now now we're all more informed, and we are going to continue that effort for 2024 as well.

Tessa Misiaszek: 16:36

So it's what I'm really loving internet is that you're taking these terms that often get spoken about in HR circles, and by IO psychologists, and so far, we are really breaking the language to the employee workforce, so that they can they can have ownership over these terms, they can practice it, they can, you know, really understand what psychological safety is or whatever the the type of term is. So it just like giving a common language to everyone with it within the organization to talk about these processes, and then to really better understand how they operate and how they will make for a more positive workplace environment. It's it's just phenomenal. And you speak with so much empathy and compassion, it's I wish our listeners could see you because you just exude this compassion for other people. Clearly, this is something that you love doing and and that you're passionate about. But what advice would you give to our listeners who might be thinking, how can we how can I bring more compassion to the work that I do no matter what industry I'm in? Or how can I leverage empathy to have you make those more meaningful connections with other people at work? Or it's funny use the word building relationships at work, and I was it's almost it sounds like an oxymoron. work relationships. It's like, Oh, is that something bad? No, that's like, what we want is making those connections. But since you know, the pandemic, a lot of people just don't have those relationships because they haven't been in person. So anyways, what advice would you give to our listeners about how they can start to create more compassion and empathy and steward that with their own work?

Unknown: 18:25

That is such a great question, Tessa, I have found the first thing and the most important thing is to start with yourself. If you are not giving yourself compassion and empathy, you will never be able to extend it authentically to someone else. And so my challenge would be to check challenge and question are you giving yourself empathy? Are you giving yourself compassion and forgiveness? Are you allowing yourself to be a human? I would say that is number one. Whenever we fly, right, my son and my grandson and my daughter in law they're flying in today. And you know, they always say you can't put the other person's oxygen mask on until you put your own on. Its total totally true. It is completely true because the compassion you extend to yourself that you give yourself your and extend to others. So I would say that that is the first step. And then role modeling, what does it look like? What does it feel like? You mentioned my energy in how I feel, and that is a work right? That is sort of my self care, right?

Tessa Misiaszek: 19:42

No, I really appreciate you saying that. I think that's really important.

Unknown: 19:47

So when I when I talked to employees, you know, one on one, my hope is that when they leave they are feeling better about themselves less judgement, less shame, right and more compassionate for themselves. So now when they go back into their Work team. They're like they're bringing that they're bringing that energy, they're bringing that language, I am more of a person that likes to have that authentic change within to first right, and then exude that on the outside. So I would say, first start with self. And then I would say, creating the language, and also seeing the human being. So being compassionate with yourself extending that to others, but see them as a human, if we can see each other as human beings, with families with stresses with joys, right mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, right? We can not be so judgmental. Right, we can offer that help. Right, we can take those actions necessary to support each other. Right. And so I would say most of this is self work. And then once you know that you're good with the self work. Let's get some training. Let's get some education. Let's Let's educate people on why this is important. Because in my industry is male dominated, and so that it sounds touchy feely, as Laura and I discussed yesterday, soft skills, which, you know, for IO psychologists, that's hard skills, right, connecting with people. And so how do we make it something that is easy, feasible, right, digestible for the workforce, and I would say bringing in some training, bringing in some, some methods and some tools that employees can use. I mentioned the nonviolent communication book with Marshall Rosenberg, even if you are not feeling compassionate, if you don't have, you're not there yet, you're working on it. If you follow the way that he offers, to have a conversation, you're golden, you're golden, right? You talk about the behavior, what you observed, and then the request. And so I believe that looking at ourselves, and then offering some tools, trainings, methods, all of that good stuff, and empowering the workforce with something really simple, right? Simple behavior, simple approach to how they work with the workforce even coming in and make sure you say good morning to everyone, right is a start, right? A simple thing. That's

Laura Hamill: 22:24

internet. So I just want to like double, like, repeat what Tessa said around, it's so encouraging to, to hear how you've made this come to life, right to the things that we just talked about. conceptually. That's, I mean, it's so important that they actually impact real human beings. And I love what you're doing. And it's just so progressive. And then they're so lucky to have you as somebody who's helping do that work. So just thank you so much for joining us today for being part of this conversation.

Unknown: 22:59

Thank you. This has been so fun.

Michael McCarthy: 23:04

We hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you'd like to hear future episodes, be sure to subscribe to the happy at work podcast, and leave us a review with your thoughts.

Tessa Misiaszek: 23:15

Are you interested in speaking on a future episode or want to collaborate with us? Let us know you can send us an email at admin at happy at work podcast.com And

Laura Hamill: 23:27

lastly, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter for even more happiness. See you soon